This Incredible House Is Built Into A Giant Hill

There are few things, besides unlimited access to all that cheese, that would entice us to move to Wisconsin. That is, until we saw the Topo House, an architectural marvel that's been quite literally built into the topography of the rolling hills of Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. You gotta see this place.

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Like a bunker from the imminent brutal winters, the structure sits inside the rural terrain. The architects were commissioned by a couple — a biomedical engineer and sculptor — looking to relocate somewhere that would allow easy access to the area's myriad bike trails, to a home with "ambiguous boundaries between interior and exterior."

The extreme fluctuations in temperature, especially in an environment so vulnerable to the elements, presented a challenge for selecting building materials that were at once resilient and aesthetically pleasing. They opted for a combination of copper, concrete, and anodized aluminum, which provides protection from the potentially violent storms and an exterior that will age gracefully. It's basically made out of George Clooney, save for that time he was in The Perfect Storm.

Interestingly, the hundreds of aluminum "fins" create an illusory effect throughout the day — depending on the angle of light and where you're looking from — that makes the structure appear to be much more geometrically complex than it truly is. Trippy.

In keeping with the emphasis on ambiguous boundaries, the roof is part of the landscape — literally. The vegetation on top minimizes both stormwater run-off and helps regulate inside temperature. Plus, it looks pretty damn cool.